The world of news is complex – and false stories and images are often widely shared on social media. Blasting News’s editorial team spots the most popular hoaxes and misleading information every week to help you discern truth from falsehood. Here are some of the most shared false claims of this week, of which none are legit.

World

Italy did not introduce “Family Pride Month” to replace LGBTQIAP+ celebrations

False claim: Social media users around the world have shared the claim that the Italian government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has reportedly announced the creation of “Family Pride Month” to replace the current celebrations of the LGBTQIAP+ community that traditionally take place in June.

According to some of the posts, the measure aims to “celebrate traditional families and the mothers and fathers who raise children.”

Truth:

  • Contrary to what the posts shared on social media claim, both the Italian government's website and Meloni's official social media accounts do not contain any statement about the alleged creation of the “Family Pride Month.”
  • Speaking to the AP, Jacopo Coghe, spokesman for Pro Vita & Famiglia, a Rome-based group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, said: “There has been no such announcement by the government and, as far as we know, there has been no proposal either.”
  • Some of the posts share alleged images of “Family Pride Month” parades. However, it is possible to see in the pictures logos of the Manifestazione Nazionale per la Vita (National Manifestation for Life), a traditional annual event organized by anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQIAP+ groups, whose most recent edition took place on May 20.
  • Shortly after coming to power about seven months ago, Giorgia Meloni, who has already expressed her opposition to what she calls “gender ideology” and the “LGBT lobby,” instructed mayors in the country to stop registering children born to same-sex parents, in what is her first – and so far only – measure that directly affects the LGBTQIAP+ community.

World

Picture of man wearing “trans kids are sexy” T-shirt at Pride parade is doctored

False claim: Social media users around the world have shared a picture of a man in a Pride parade allegedly wearing a T-shirt with the words “trans kids are sexy”.

Truth:

  • A reverse image search shows that the picture was taken by photographer Taya Gray and published by the Palm Springs, California, newspaper The Desert Sun on November 7, 2021.
  • In the original image, which illustrates an article about the Pride parade in Palm Springs in that year, it is possible to see that the man is wearing a plain white T-shirt.

USA

California bill does not “legalize infanticide”

False claim: Social media users in the United States have shared the claim that California's bill AB 2223 “legalize infanticide.” The posts are accompanied by a video in which a man claims that the bill “will make it absolutely legal to kill babies not just in the womb, but now outside of the womb up to 28 days old.”

Truth:

  • Passed by the California Legislature on September 27, 2022 the bill states that “a person shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability or penalty, or otherwise deprived of their rights under this article, based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death due to causes that occurred in utero.”
  • In a Twitter post on April 5, 2022 while the bill was still being discussed in the legislature, Rep. Buffy Wicks, one of the bill's co-author, said: “Let me be clear: #AB2223 doesn’t prevent the state from keeping children safe. This isn't a bill about infanticide. This is about protecting Californians who suffer pregnancy loss from being unjustly investigated, prosecuted or incarcerated. Full stop.”

Spain

WHO has not admitted that COVID-19 vaccines cause multiple sclerosis

False claim: Social media users in Spain have shared the claim that the World Health Organization (WHO) admitted in a statement posted on its website that COVID-19 vaccines can cause multiple sclerosis.

Truth:

  • Contrary to what the viral posts on social media suggest, the document mentioned is not a WHO statement, but rather an abstract from research that can be found on WHO COVID-19 Research Database.
  • The abstract, by researchers at the University Hospital of Zurich in Switzerland, was published in October 2022 in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal. Titled “Covid-19 vaccination can induce multiple sclerosis via cross-reactive CD4+ T cells recognizing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and myelin peptides,” it examines two cases of multiple sclerosis that began after the patients got COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. The study, however, apart from the small sample size, was not peer-reviewed.
  • Speaking to the AP, Roland Martin, a neurology professor at the University of Zurich and one of the authors of the study, conceded that the wording of the abstract is “probably too strong”. According to him, there are many other possible causes of multiple sclerosis, including genetic predisposition and environmental factors.

Africa

Uganda's Entebbe International Airport will not be closed after failing an audit

False claim: Social media users in Africa have shared a video that claims Uganda's Entebbe International Airport is about to be closed after failing to pass an audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Truth:

  • Speaking to the AFP, ICAO spokesman William Raillant-Clark said that the organization “does not audit airports.”
  • According to Raillant-Clark, ICAO only carries out, at the request of its member states, the so-called Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP), which audits “the implementation of technical standards related to safety oversight by aviation regulators.” “Even a negative outcome of this auditing process does not necessarily indicate a safety risk,” he said.
  • In a Twitter post on May 20, 2023 Uganda’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that Entebbe International Airport has not undergone an ICAO audit recently, but that a USOAP audit is scheduled for September this year.
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